Dave and I succeeded in hiking rim to rim.  SO much more about that soon, but for now, let’s talk about Memorial Day weekend because we got to be in this gorgeous spot in the mountains with these awesome people shown in random order pictures below. 

Eight of the nine kids and their families were there…plus two of the boys of the one sibling who couldn’t make it.

We all felt about like those kids up there to be together and bask in FAMILY.

 Our brother-in-law just tore his Achilles tendon, poor guy, right as they are about to move away.  But look at that smile despite being kind of stuck a lot of the weekend.  Love that Dan!

 Lots of games and animation when we’re with Dave’s family and I love it.

 And my heart just kept swelling over and over again that these cousins have each other.

 …and that Lucy has so many cousins who are hip to the jive to play cards with her non-stop.

Our adult dinner toasting Dave’s sister and her husband who made all this possible.

 So many cousin games.

 church photo-bombers…

Dave’s little sister has TWO kids leaving for missions this summer.  Their daughter is heading to Spain, and their son to Argentina.  We had a great little gathering with some trivia about those places and also about those great kids.

 We did a little photo shoot for this nephew and his fiance who are getting married in August.

So excited for them!

 Obviously Lucy was kind of excited too.

 Off to make some s’mores:

 More games..

 One of my very favorite parts of the weekend was the tennis.

Oh boy, it’s so fun to watch the competition in this family!

 We played “live-ball” for HOURS on Saturday and Monday too.

 I loved playing but even more, watching so many of those cousins and parents playing together and LOVING it.

I love to think about all these good people, and how they were all made possible because of these two good people:

 …who fell in love and had a vision of creating a strong family.

…through thick and thin.  Because there has been lots of both.

And I’m so grateful for them.

And for the power of FAMILY.

2 Comments

  1. I always look forward to running into you at church on Memorial Day weekend. I've had the pleasure of teaching a few of your girls in my primary classes and sitting next to you in relief society. This year I didn't see you but I assume you went to an earlier ward. Looks like you had a wonderful time up here in the mountains! I feel so blessed to live here!
    http://www.aprilrises.com

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